This Is It (Kenny Loggins song)

"This Is It" is a song by American musician Kenny Loggins. It was released in 1979 as the lead single from his 1979 album Keep the Fire. It reached number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 17 on the Adult Contemporary chart. "This Is It" was also successful on the Hot Soul Singles chart, reaching number 19; it was one of two entries on this chart.[2]

"This Is It"
Single by Kenny Loggins
from the album Keep the Fire
B-side"Will It Last"
ReleasedOctober 1979
GenreSoft rock[1]
Length3:56
LabelColumbia
Songwriter(s)Kenny Loggins
Michael McDonald
Producer(s)Tom Dowd
Kenny Loggins singles chronology
"Easy Driver"
(1979)		 "This Is It"
(1979)		 "Keep the Fire"
(1980)

The song features additional vocals by Michael McDonald, who co-wrote the song with Loggins. The song won a Grammy Award in 1981 for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance.

Background and writing

At one point in the song's evolution, its melody was underway, but the lyrics were incomplete. Loggins moved it forward after a visit to his ailing father, who had undergone a series of surgeries for vascular problems stemming from small strokes and was discouraged at the prospect of another. His perspective on the lyrics then changed: "'I've got it,' I announced to Michael, it's not a love song. It's a life song."[3]

Chart performance

The opening of "This Is It" was used as bumper music for a local talk show hosted by Steve Edwards, which aired locally in Los Angeles on KNXT (now KCBS-TV) during the early 1980s.

NBC used the song as theme music for its coverage of the NCAA men's basketball tournament in 1980 and 1981.[12]

Heavyweight champion Michael Spinks used the song as his entry music as he walked to the ring prior to his title bout against Mike Tyson in 1988. The match was taglined "Once and for All" and was hosted by future President Donald Trump. At the time, the match was the highest grossing fight in boxing history.

The song was sampled for Nas' song, "We Will Survive" from his third studio album, I Am....

"This Is It" features prominently in the second episode of the web series Yacht Rock.

It appears in the 2013 film Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues.

It appears on "America's Game: The Super Bowl Champions" episode: the 1981 49ers on NFL Network in 2007.

Stevie Holland recorded the song on her album More Than Words Can Say (More Than Words Can Say, 2006)[13]

Josh Kaufman, a contestant sang the song on The Voice.

WPVI-TV (Philadelphia) used this song as the theme for the WPVI original program of the same name.

References
  1. "VH1's 40 Most Softsational Soft-Rock Songs". Stereogum. SpinMedia. May 31, 2007. Retrieved July 31, 2016.
  2. Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942–2004. Record Research. p. 358.
  3. "September 1999 (This Is It)". kennyloggins.com. Archived from the original on May 6, 2006. Retrieved November 16, 2015.
  4. "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. Retrieved 2016-10-15.
  5. "Nederlandse Top 40 – Kenny Loggins" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40.
  6. "Charts.nz – Kenny Loggins – This Is It". Top 40 Singles.
  7. Whitburn, Joel (2002). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961-2001. Record Research. p. 148.
  8. "Top 100 1980-02-09". Cashbox Magazine. Retrieved 2015-05-18.
  9. "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. Retrieved 2016-10-15.
  10. Billboard December 20, 1980: TIA-10
  11. "Top 100 Year End Charts: 1980". Cashbox Magazine. Retrieved 2015-07-22.
  12. "Louisville vs UCLA 1980 NCAA Championship (FULL GAME)". YouTube. 2013-04-05. Retrieved 2016-10-15.
  13. "Stevie Holland | More Than Words Can Say" at AllMusic.
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